Letter From Lamar Hunt, Jr.

Welcome to Loretto Foundation where faith and families come first!

Back in the 2nd Century, a man by the name of Clement of Alexandria observed that wealth is a precondition for charitable giving. He said, “And how much more beneficial the opposite case, for a man, through possessing a competency, both not himself to be in straits about money, and also to give assistance to those to whom it is requisite so to do! For if no one had anything, what room would be left among men for giving?”

Besides making specific gifts to specific charities that you will see featured from time-to-time on our website, one of the major goals we have at Loretto Foundation is to educate ourselves and the public about what the Christian faith has to say about business and our work in the world. These principles are highlighted in detail under the guiding principles of our website. Please take the time to review these principles to more deeply understand how man is called to work and that Christianity is a repository of some of the richest and most relevant economic philosophy available to man. For those who want an even more in-depth understanding one can read Caritas in Veritate, which means Charity in Truth written in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict points out that Christianity does not offer specific technical solutions to economic and social issues but rather moral principles to inform the building of such solutions. He warns of the dangers arising from unbalanced growth and from those pursuing profit purely for it s own sake, without seeing profit as a means to do good. “The primary capital to be safeguarded is man.”

The Loretto Foundation desires to promote the dignity of all persons with a special concern for the poor and underserved. We want to promote programs that strengthen families, especially those programs that address root causes of poverty and focus on systemic change. We support a broad vision of health that includes spiritual, emotional, physical, social, and economic well-being. It is our job to act as responsible and just stewards and support strategies that reflect Christian ethical principles faithful to Catholic social teaching.

The Loretto Foundation believes that each person is created in the image of God and that all human life is sacred and possesses a dignity that comes directly from our Creator and not from any action of our own. We are called to live in community with others as our full human potential isn’t realized in solitude but in sharing ourselves completely and fully with others just as Jesus Christ did.

St. Gregory of Nyssa, a mystic who lived in Cappadocia in Asia Minor around 380 AD describes the Beatitudes (The Gospel of Matthew 5:3-10) in this way:

“Beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good, from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want. Perhaps the meaning of beatitude may become clear to us if it compared with its opposite. Now the opposite of beatitude is misery. Misery means being afflicted unwillingly with painful sufferings.”